New Hampshire Statesman

SINGULAR AFFAIR. We find in the Worcester Transcript the particulars of a singular affair at Rutland, in that county, of which the following is the substance:

In the year 1834 a young man, named Chester Sprout, went to Rutland and engaged himself to work for Mr. Daniel Darling, carrying on the business of blacksmith in that town. Sprout continued in the employ of Mr. Darling for a year, more or less, when he suddenly disappeared.

Years afterward, a neighbor of Mr. Darling named A. S. Preston, stated to several persons that Sprout had been murdered, and that he knew where the body was concealed. He also wrote a letter to Mr. Darling, charging him with the murder, and adding that he could save his neck from the halter by paying over a sum of money. Mr. Darling replied by lodging a complaint against Mr. Preston, for sending threatening letters with the intent to extort money, and he was arrested.

Now comes the singular part of the affair. About two months ago, a son of Col. Damon, of Rutland, while on a hunting excursion in the woods near "Damon Pond," in that town, discovered the skull of a human being, protruding above the earth. He made known his discovery, and search was made, and a portion of a human skeleton was found beneath the surface. The Barre Gazette published the fact at the time, and also rehearsed the disappearance of Chester Sprout in 1834, and stated that the bones discovered were supposed to be those of the missing Sprout. The discovery of the bones, connected with Preston's story, created great excitement in Rutland, and all kinds of rumors were soon afloat in the town.

Under the instructions of the District Attorney, Deputy Sheriff Denny went to Rutland and obtained the skeleton, and proceeded to investigate the matter. The result of a long and patient search was the discovery that Sprout, the supposed deceased, was alive, and well, at Adams Basin, Monroe county, New-York. Mr. Denny, who went in search of Sprout, found him, not looking at all like a man who had been under ground for twenty years or more, but whole and hearty, possessed of a wife and five children, and doing a good business as a captain of a canal boat on the Erie canal. This relieved Mr. Darling from the disagreeable suspicions of guilt, entertained by many of his neighbors. Prescott has been pronounced insane, and discharged from arrest.—Boston Traveller.